Women's History Month: 3 Women Who Changed America

Most Americans are taught only about a select number of monumental events and influential figures in history. Far too often, we neglect to commemorate black women of yesteryear for their brave efforts throughout history that have shaped the country we know now. When we think about the civil rights era, we normally remember only the charismatic male leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., even though black women also played an integral part in the movement. In celebration of Women’s History Month, we’ve spotlighted three unsung black women — Sojourner Truth, Diane Nash, and Vivian Malone Jones — whose tireless activism and achievements deserve to be more widely recognized.

By the early 1800s, Truth had had five children, one son and four daughters. Before New York abolished slavery, on July 4, 1827, she escaped to freedom with her infant daughter, Sophia. Not too long after her escape, Truth learned that her son Peter had been illegally sold into slavery in Alabama. She went on to successfully sue to get back custody. Truth moved to New York City in 1828 and soon after became a preacher in the Pentecostal Church. In 1843, she adopted the moniker “Sojourner Truth” and became increasingly politically active and outspoken about racial injustices and gender-based violence.

The powerhouse is most famously known for her impassioned speech “Ain’t I a Woman?,” which was delivered at the Women’s Rights Convention of 1851, in Akron, Ohio. It was a response to the discriminatory rhetoric of male ministers who argued that women shouldn't have the same rights as men. "If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them," she said.

In addition to that rousing speech, Truth is often remembered for embodying the spirit of intersectionality, far before the concept became a tenet of modern-day feminism. In contrast to suffragists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who wouldn't support the black vote if it wasn’t also granted to women, she recognized the varying injustices people can face because of their multihyphenate identities. In her case, she suffered oppression for being both black and a woman.

Committed to a life of activism, Nash dropped out of college to pursue a career as a full-time political organizer and strategist. She became a prominent figure in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), helmed by Dr. King. She also was a prominent figure in the Selma Voting Rights campaign, which eventually led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and was part of a national committee (to which she was appointed by President John F. Kennedy) that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Nash remains an outspoken advocate in her native Chicago and a prominent voice for civil rights.

Vivian Malone Jones

Born on July 15, 1942, in Alabama, Jones was a studious adolescent and a member of the National Honor Society in high school. After high school, she attended and graduated from Alabama A&M with a bachelor’s degree. The institution lost its accreditation, so to obtain an accredited degree, she applied to study at the University of Alabama's School of Commerce and Business Administration and was admitted as a junior. At the time of Jones’s admittance, the university, which was founded in 1831, had no black alumni. Its first black student, Autherine Lucy, briefly attended the school after enrolling in February 1956, but after receiving multiple threats, she was suspended and later expelled, seemingly for her safety.

On a hot summer day in June 1963, Jones and another black student, James Hood, prepared for their first day at their new school. When they arrived, they had to wait in a car before entering the school grounds, because the state’s defiant governor, George C. Wallace, stood in the doorway in an effort to fulfill a campaign promise he'd made to stop desegregation at “the schoolhouse door.” What should have been a celebratory day became a drawn-out standoff between the students, Wallace, and government officials. Jones and Hood were finally admitted, four and a half hours later, after Alabama National Guard troops, federalized by President Kennedy over the phone, arrived on the scene. Jones went on to become the first black graduate of the University of Alabama. The debacle became a defining moment in the nationwide fight for school integration. To this day, Jones is remembered as one of the pioneers of desegregation.

Women’s History Month may be coming to a close, but these black women’s stories remain equally important throughout the year. When we look to the past to get a better understanding of the present, it’s vital that we identify and share the stories of women of color, so their experiences and political efforts are never forgotten.